Fiber sliver guide mechanism



Aug'. 11, 1970 v OJDOTZAUER I 3,523,334

FIBER SLIVER GUIDE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 20, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. OSWALD DOTZA UER A TTOR/YEY Aug. 11, 1970 b, "DOTZAQER 4 3,523,334

FIBER SLIVER GUIDE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 20, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. OS'WALD DOTZA UER BY MM M Arrows Y United States Patent U.S. Cl. 19.23 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The direction of fiber sliver traveling at high speed is changed by the sliver being passed, first, between a pair of gear-driven calender rolls and, then, between the lower calender roll and an idler roll. Opposite ends of the upper calender roll and the idler roll are mounted in saddles movable relative to the lower calender roll to alter the pressure of the saddle-mounted rolls against such lower calender roll. The saddles are connected for conjoint movement by a yoke. Each yoke arm is linked by a tie rod to a spring-pressed lever arm for pressing the saddle-mounted calender and idler rolls against the lower calender roll. A pair of adjustable contacts on each saddle straddle a contact pin projecting from each yoke arm. Each pair of contacts and the yoke pin between them constitute a switch in the roll-driving motor circuit. If either contact disengages the yoke pin when the saddles drop slightly due to lack of sliver between the calender rolls or are lifted slightly by an enlargement in the sliver passing between the rolls, the circuit is broken and the motor de-energized.

In drawing, especially cotton or synthetic staple fiber, conventionally the sliver is delivered from the discharge rolls of the drawing machine through a vertical tunnel to a pair of calender rolls beneath it from which the sliver can be coiled in a cylindrical container having its axis upright. During such operation the sliver must change its direction of travel from approximately horizontal to nearly vertical. If the sliver is fed at high speed to the funnel, because of its momentum the sliver tends to continue traveling in its initial nearly horizontal direction so that the fiber strikes the side of the vertical funnel and rolls over the funnel lip, or simply overshoots the funnel, instead of dropping through it to the calender rolls. In order to force the sliver to change its direction and pass through the funnel, it has been common practice to maintain the tension in the sliver produced by the calender rolls so high that uniformity of the sliver cannot be maintained.

This problem is addressed in US. Pat. No. 532,405, in which the funnel is shown to be arranged with its axis aligned with the initial, generally horizontal, direction of sliver translational movement and an idler roll cooperates with the calender rolls to turn the sliver into the vertical direction. In this device, however the lower calender roll is motor-driven and the upper calender roll and the idler roll simply rest on the lower calender roll. Consequently, the pressure between the calender rolls and/ or between the lower calender roll and the idler roll cannot be adjusted as required for different fiber materials or for sliver of different thickness except by replacing the two top rolls by rolls of different weights.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide apparatus for positively guiding fiber sliver from lengthwise movement in one direction into lengthwise movement in a different direction by a pair of calender rolls cooperating with an idler roll in which the pressure of the cooperating rolls is greater than would be produced by the weight of the upper rolls alone and can be selectively adjusted.

An additional important object is to mount the pressure-adjustable cooperating rolls so that such rolls can be moved apart quickly and easily for cleaning, threading or maintenance.

It is a further object to provide automatic switching mechanism responsive to discontinuities in sliver passing between the rolls to de-energize the sliver-guide mechanism.

FIG. 1 is a vertical transverse section through sliver guide mechanism in accordance with the present invention, taken on line II of FIG. 4 with parts broken away.

FIG. 2 is a vertical transverse section through such guide mechanism taken on line IIII of FIG. 4 with parts broken away.

FIG. 3 is a vertical transverse section through pressureadjusting mechanism taken on line III-III of FIG. 4.

FIG. (4 is a top plan of the sliver-guide and pressureeadjusting mechanism with parts broken away and parts in section.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of a portion of the pressure-adjusting mechanism located between the lines 55 of FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is a vertical transverse section through an alternative type of pressure-adjusting mechanism taken on line IIIIII of FIG. 4.

The fiber sliver 2, usually moving at high speed, is discharged by rolls 1, 11 of a drawing or carding machine, for example, to the mouth of funnel 4 of a container-filling machine. The funnel is disposed so that its axis is aligned with the translational direction of sliver 2, generally horizontal, as it is discharged from rolls 1, 11. The funnel discharge end feeds such sliver to the nip of lower and upper calender rolls 31 and 32. As the sliver passes beyond upper roll 32 it is engaged by idler roll 33 in frictional engagement with roll 31 and deflected through a large acute angle into a substantially vertical direction. The discharge side of the nip of rolls 31 and 33 is aligned with a guide tube 51 of a container-filling device 52, such as described in copending application Ser. No. 689,458, filed Dec. 11, 1967 of Fritz Schumann and Erich Edler, for Method and Apparatus for Parting Continuous Sliver in Container-Filling Device.

The lower calender roll 31 is power driven, preferably by an electric motor, and upper calender roll 32 is positively driven through meshing gears, not shown, on the shafts of rolls 31 and 32. Pressure saddles 6 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 carry opposite ends of pressure rolls 32 and. 33. As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure saddles are mounted in arms 7 and 7', respectively, of a yoke 71 by bolts 61, through which bolts a load applied to yoke 71 is transmitted to the pressure saddles 6 and rolls 32 and 33 mounted in them. Load is distributed from the saddles 6 to the rolls 32 and 33 by mounting the saddles 6 rockably by pivot bolt 61. In order to adjust the distribution of the load applied by saddles 6 to rolls 32 and 33, a bolt 61 extends through an arcuate slot 62 in each saddle concentric with the lower calender roll 31 which rotates about a fixed axis.

By moving the slot 62 of a saddle 6 relative to the load-transmitting bolt 61, rolls 32 and 33 can be moved orbitally around roll 31 to a limited extent, thereby increasing the distance between the bolt and the axis of one of rolls 32 and 33 and decreasing correspondingly the distance between such bolt and the axis of the other roll. Such shifting of the saddle 6 alters the distribution of the total load applied by the saddle between the nip of rolls 3 31 and 32 and the nip of rolls 31 and 33. The pressure on roll 31 of the roll having its axis closer to bolt 61 will be greater than the pressure of the other roll on roll 31. Because the position of bolt 61 in yoke 71 is fixed, the total load transmitted by bolt 61 to each saddle 6 is constant in magnitude and direction for a given load on the yoke. With the saddle and its arcuate slot 62 in the position of FIG. 2, the total load will be divided between roll 32 and roll 33 in one distribution. If the saddle is moved orbitally about roll 31 so that the bolt is in the lower end of slot 62 closest to idler roll 33, calender roll 32 will receive its maximum load proportion. Conversely, when bolt -61 is in the upper end of slot 62, roll 33 will receive its greatest proportion of the load. Because the direction of load on pin 61 is nearly vertically downward, as will be seen in the subsequent description of the load-applying mechanism, the load on roll 32 will always be greater than the load on roll 33, which is preferred because rolls 31 and 32 must exert the principal pulling force on sliver 2. After the saddle has been set in the desired orbital position, an outer bearing sleeve on bolt 61 is locked so that the position of such bolt along slot 62 cannot be altered. Provision of such bearing sleeve permits saddle 6 to rock freely about bolt 61 for purposes described below.

The yoke 71 having a bridge connecting arms 7 and 7' is a rigid frame which is swingable up and down about the horizontal axis defined by pivot bolts 72 connecting the free ends of arms 7 and 7' to machine frame plates 73, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. When the yoke is swung upward pressure saddles 6 and pressure rolls 32 and 33 are conjointly swung away from roll 31. The yoke can be held in its upper position by plunger 12 shown in FIG. 4. Such plunger is normally spring-pressed toward the side of arm 7. When the yoke is raised so that the lower edge of arm 7 is above plunger 12, the compression spring encircling it urges such plunger into underlying registry with the arm to support the yoke in such upper position. When the yoke is to be lowered, plunger 12 can be pulled by knob 13 out of registry with the yoke arm 7.

The mechanism for applying a load to pressure rolls 32 and 33 through pressure saddles 6 and yoke 71 is shown in FIGS. 3, and 6. One end of load lever 8 at one side of the yoke is connected by pivot 81 to frame plate 73. The opposite swinging end of the lever is connected by pivot 83 to the lower end of tie rod 82. The upper tie rod end is threaded into a stirrup 82 and secured by lock nut 82". Arm 7 has a load bar 74 projecting from its side opposite pressure saddle 6. A tongue 74 projecting perpendicularly from such load bar extends through the loop of stirrup 8 2' and is pulled downward by the upper cross bar of the stirrup. The interfitting relationship of tongue 74 and stirrup 82' is shown best in FIG. 5. Similarly, a load bar 74 is mounted on yoke arm 7 which is connected by a tie rod 82 to a load lever 8.

A compression spring 9 is mounted between upper and lower bearing cups in each frame plate 73 adjacent to yoke arms 7 and 7, respectively, the lower bearing cup pressing downward on the adjacent load lever 8 and the upper bearing cup engaging an adjusting screw 91. The load exerted on each load lever, and consequently on on yoke 71, by springs 9 can be varied by turning screws 91. Calibrations on or adjacent to the head of each screw 91 permit accurate adjustments of pressure between the calender rolls 31 and 32 and between rolls 31 and 33 as required for various types of fiber and for various thicknesses of sliver. Alternatively, each spring 9 and its adjusting screw 91 could be replaced by a piston and cylinder jack 9', either pneumatically or hydraulically actuated to vary the load on lever 8 by alteration in pressure of the fluid in the cylinder. This is shown in FIG. 5

turned manually by levers 93 through a quarter turn to lift load levers 8 against pressure of springs 9 and thereby release downward pressure of stirrups 82' on tongue 74'. The tie rods 82 can then be swung about pivots '83 to move the stirrups out of registry with the tongues.

In order to shut down the machine in case the sliver should break or should be gathered or knotted so that an unusually thick portion is pulled into the nip of calender rolls 31 and 32, a switch for the circuit of the motor driving roll 31 is provided which will open such circuit in response to such sliver discontinuities. When the sliver breaks at a location in advance of the nip of calender rolls 31, 32, the portion of the sliver already between the rolls will be advanced until its severed end passes out from between the rolls 31 and 32, whereupon roll 32 will drop downward slightly toward roll 31 causing saddle 6 to rock about bolt 61.

Such rocking of the saddle about bolt 61 in this manner causes it to rotate relative to yoke arm 7 or 7' instead of being held immovably by the yoke 71 and stirrups 82'. The motor circuit is connected through contacts 15 mounted in lugs 17 projecting from saddle 6. When con: tact pin 16 projecting from arm 7 or 7 is in engagement with both contacts 15, such pin will short the contacts and complete the motor circuit. The contacts 15 can be adjustably extended through lugs- 17 toward and away from each other so that, when sliver having a characteristic thickness has been threaded between the calender rolls and the saddle 6 assumes a rotative position relative to arm 7 or 7' determined by such sliver thickness, contacts 15 are adjusted to engage opposite sides of contact pin 16 to complete the motor circuit when a master switch is closed.

Although contacts 15 cannot move closer together after they are set, such contacts are resiliently mounted for movement away from each other so that when the presuure saddle pivots about bolt 61 in response to sliver discontinuity, one contact 15 can be pushed outward by pressure against contact pin 16 while the other contact 15 is moved out of engagement with pin 16 to break the circuit and denergize the motor. A set of such contacts 15 and contact pin 16 can be mounted on both saddles 6 and arms 7 and 7 if desired.

Contacts 15 also may be connected to control the energizing circuit of the motor driving rolls 1, 11 or other apparatus feeding the calender rolls and/or connected in the circuit controlling the container-filling apparatus 52, if desired. Pins 16 are electrically insulated from arms 7 and 7' and saddles 6 are electrically insulated from yoke 71 and the machine frame by insulating sleeves 14 encasing the portions of bolts 61 which extend through saddle slots 62.

I claim: 1. Sliver guide mechanism comprising a power-driven roll, two pressure rolls cooperating with said power-driven roll, mounting means mounting opposite ends of said two pressure rolls and including a pair of saddles and rigid yoke means connected to said saddles, and separate loading means reacting between said power driven roll and the opposite end opposite end portions of said two pressure rolls, respectively, to press said opposite end portions of said two pressure rolls independently toward said power driven roll, said loading means including a load lever, a tie rod connecting said load lever and said yoke means, and means for applying a selectively variable load on said load lever.

2. The guide mechanism defined in claim 1, in which the load-applying means includes compression spring means having one end pressing against the load lever and having its opposite end movable toward and away from the load lever for varying the stress in said spring means.

3. The guide mechanism defined in claim 1, in which the load-applying means includes piston and cylinder jack means having one end pressing against the load lever with a load variable by alteration in pressure of the fluid in the cylinder 4. The guide mechanism defined in claim 1, and means for disconnecting the tie rod and the yoke means.

5. The guide mechanism defined in claim 1, in which the mounting means includes pivot means mounting the saddles for rocking relative to the yoke means in response to discontinuities in sliver passing between the rolls, and normally-closed switch means controlling the powerdriven roll and openable in response to rocking of the 10 saddles for stopping the power-driven roll.

6. The guide mechanism defined in claim 1, pivot means rockably mounting the saddles, and means for shifting said pivot means and saddles relative to each other orbitally of the power-driven roll for altering the distribution between the two pressure rolls mounted in the saddles of the load transmitted to such rolls from the saddles.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 6/ 195 3 Great Britain. 1/ 1963 Great Britain.

5 DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

